Five Of The Best Times Football And Fashion Came Together

While football and fashion are, in many ways, miles apart, the two worlds have overlapped for years. Recently, it’s more a more visible relationship than ever: brands and designers are channeling the passion and spirit of football, with labels from Patta and Palace to Balenciaga and Versace releasing soccer jerseys. Meanwhile, the cliche of badly dressed players has evaporated: in 2019 Hector Bellerin walked for Louis Vuitton, while the past year has seen Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold feature in a Bottega Veneta campaign and Raheem Sterling collaborate with Clarks.

Off-White™ and Nike’s “Football, Mon Amour” Collection

While some are speculating that Virgil Abloh could be working on a Liverpool kit, the designer’s first football project with Nike (NYSE:NKE -1.13%) is one of his best. Titled “Football, Mon Amour,” the Off-White™ collaboration featured everything from goalkeeper gloves and a ball to hoodies, track pants and shirts and was unveiled by none other than Kylian Mbappé.

The key items in the collection were a black and white checkered football kit — offset by bright orange detailing — two colorways of the Nike Zoom Fly Mercurial Flyknit and a pair of Mercurial Vapor 360 football boots. The boots arrived in either black or orange, and sported Abloh’s signature quotation marks, as well as a series of colored circles outlining the best parts of the foot to strike the ball.

Real Madrid’s Yohji Yamamoto-Designed Third Kit

While fashion-focused football jerseys are seen every season nowadays, adidas (XETRA:ADS.DE +0.19%) ’ decision to recruit Yohji Yamamoto to design a Real Madrid kit back in 2014/15 was a big statement. The third kit, which debuted in the Champions League that year, referenced Yamamoto’s signature aesthetic with an all-black color scheme and some eye-catching details.

The stand-out feature was a graphic featuring two mythical beasts, as a dragon king and dragon bird were interlaced across the front of the shirt. The graphic was chosen with the king representing Real Madrid’s greatness, glory and power, while the bird stands for resistance, determination and agility.

Martine Rose’s “The Lost Lionesses” Shirt for Nike

Ahead of this year’s delayed Euro 2020 tournament, Nike and Martine Rose teased a specially-designed collaboration. Unveiled on the cover of The Face, the England fan shirt is inspired by “The Lost Lionesses,” the unofficial England women’s team who played in the 1971 World Cup and are often overlooked in the history of the sport.

The supporter’s jersey, which releases next month, is fully reversible. One on side is a Martine Rose logo, while the other features an England crest based on the one worn in the 1971 World Cup.

Palace’s Juventus kit

London-based label Palace has a long history of football references — its 2012 collaboration with Umbro, based on an archive England shirt, is a stand-out — but the brand’s project with Juventus took it to a new level. It’s one thing designing kits inspired by your favorite jerseys, but suddenly the skate label’s designs were being worn by Cristiano Ronaldo and company.

The design itself referenced Juventus’ iconic black and white colors, while Palace introduced a gradient printto the classic stripes. Other details across the jersey — including the adidas logo, Juventus crest and the sponsor — were finished in a bold neon green.

Arsenal’s Collaboration With 424

Back in 2019, Arsenal announced the beginning of a partnership with 424, as the Guillermo Andrade-led label signed on to design its suits. The collaboration grew out of Andrade’s friendship with Arsenal player — and the poster boy of football and fashion’s crossover — Hector Bellerin. A year and a half after the formalwear collection was unveiled, though, was when the collaboration hit its peak.

Earlier this year, Arsenal, adidas and 424 revealed a more casual collection, which focused around an all-new training jersey. Throughout this capsule, a color scheme of red, black and “Carbon Gray” was chosen to honor Arsenal’s home colors and its Emirates Stadium home ground.